Neopolitan Stars
by OrionTheHunter101
Summary: In the world of Remnant, Neopolitan is a henchman who's been shunned from Cinder's plans. She has no choice but to trust her new friend, Orion, and the residents of the prestigious Beacon Academy to protect her from Cinders wrath. But their protection doesn't come cheap.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Neo

'Stupid! How could I be so stupid?' I thought to myself as I flew through the sky, held up by my parasol. 'Why'd Roman have to drag on that speech so long? I would've easily taken out that little red demon if she hadn't gone for the button on my parasol!' Even as these thoughts of resentment rang through my head, I made my plan for survival. I tilted my parasol a little bit, aiming me toward my target: a relatively small and easy to control griffin near the bottom of the flock. I landed on its back and stabbed my parasol blade into the base of its neck. Ignoring the pained screams of the flying grimm, I aimed it up until it was overtop of the Atlesian Airship. I could barely make out the tiny, white and red figures of Roman and "Little Red" on the wing of the massive warbird. As I drew closer, though, I could see that Roman was beating Red with his cane and giving another of his famous speeches. But I saw what they didn't.

Right behind him, coming in at full speed, was a massive griffin which obviously had its eyes set on Roman. All I could do was watch on in horror as he lifted Melodic Cudgel over Red's head and was immediately eaten by the ginormous grimm. It then attacked Red, and I closed my eyes and buried my head into the black, bloody feathers of my ride. I heard an explosion and looked up again to see that the griffin had been smashed into the bridge and the airship was falling out of the sky, simultaneously blowing itself up. Any chance Roman had of being alive was gone, and little red was nowhere to be seen. Wiping away tears, I directed my grimm away from the city of Vale and flew home as fast as the griffin would allow.

Orion

"Hmmm... These are good ones too." I said as I picked up another pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses and added them to the small pile in front of the cashier. "I told myself I'd change it up a bit with some wraparounds, but I guess I'll stick with my classic look." The faunus lady behind the desk raised an eyebrow at my collection of 14 nearly identical sunglasses, but didn't say a word as she started scanning each pair. "That'll be 72 lien," she stated and put the last pair into a plastic bag. I handed her my card. "Sorry I always run you out of aviators, but people tend to be unnerved when they see these beauties." And with that I held up the aviators I was currently wearing and had a good laugh at the woman's surprised expression and widened eyes as they took in my own.

Though perhaps this requires explanation. I have a condition called heterochromia iridium, or mismatched eyes. My left eye is a deep blue while my right one is a light silver. I started wearing sunglasses at age 7, after my parents died and I got tired of people looking into my eyes with pity or disgust. That's also when I started learning to fight. But that was 12 years ago. I have since gotten over how others see my condition and started using it to mess with people and catch them off guard. I still choose to always wear aviators anyway, for the obscurity's sake.

"Thank you," I smiled at the slightly flustered cashier as it accepted my card back as well as the bag of eyewear. I started the trek back to my house, twirling Alnitak in one hand. Alnitak is my weapon of choice. As my parents had died in a mugging, I'd decided to train myself to use the least conspicuous weapon I could think of: an umbrella. Of course, Alnitak isn't just any old umbrella. The rod is dust-infused carbon fiber and the ribbing is made of dust-forged titanium. On top of that, the fabric is Kevlar interwoven with dust and there's a titanium blade included with the detachable handle. Finally, the whole thing doubles as a high-powered rifle. There's no scope, but I don't miss.

Alnitak is my favorite creation. I forged her in signal academy, where I'd been posing as a student in order to make a weapon and gain access to the training rooms. Nobody there had been a match for me. Though I was only 16 when I went there, even the teachers would've probably lost against me in a spar. But I had no interest in fighting the grim, like every one else there. I'm a bit of a vigilante. I roam the alleys, mugging the muggers. If anyone were to ask what I did I'd say I was a hunter, but people rarely ask. Hunters are usually pretty recognizable.

The walk to my place was mostly uneventful. As I turned the corner onto my street, though, I heard the sounds of someone being beaten up. I turned toward the noise, beaming at the chance to take down another scumbag and steal his money. But as I turned the corner I was greeted by and even greater sight.

A large man in a black shirt and jeans was laying on his back, knife in hand. Over him stood a tiny little girl with half pink hair and half black. She was dressed in long white boots, a black pants with a pink belt, and a black blouse under a white jacket with pink lining. But what really caught my attention was that she was twirling what appeared to be a parasol in much the same way I was spinning Alnitak. Then I saw her eyes. Mismatched, like mine. She had one pink iris and one brown. As she gaze shifted and she noticed me her triumphant smirk curved into a disappointed frown.

"Nice job," I started, regaining my cool and motioning toward the knocked-out man on the ground "My name's Orion. What's yours?" But as I took a step toward her the girl shattered into a million pieces.

 _ **A/N: Well there it is, guys! I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter! Please feel free to review with comments, suggestions, critiques, etc. I intend to be posting one chapter per week, so you can look forward to rather frequent updates.**_

 _ **SPOILER ALERT FOR RWBY VOLUME 3!**_

 _ **This doesn't actually matter until later in the story, but this fanfic takes place after Volume 3 Chapter 12 in a world where Yang still has her right arm, Ozpin hasn't gone missing, Pyrah's still alive, and Beacon is back in session.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Neo

I must've been more tired than I thought, because I didn't wake up until 1 in the afternoon. I never get to sleep in, but I couldn't enjoy it now. Despite my extra rest I still felt like utter crap. 'Roman's gone.' I thought to myself, in the hopes that it might sink in this time. It didn't.

After a few minutes, I managed to get out of bed and start my usual routine. I took a shower, changed into a fresh set of my usual clothes, ate breakfast, and brushed my teeth. Then I went to Roman's room.

I sat on his bed and looked around at his desk, his computer, and his closet full of the same outfit over and over again, much like mine was. All these things had belonged to Roman Torchwick; the man who had taken me in. The man who I'd loved, though I never could've let him know.

I returned to my room and curled back up on my bed, hugging my knees and crying into my pillow. I must've dozed off, because it was 6 when I got up again. Deciding it wouldn't help to mope around and Cinder would likely be less than understanding when giving my next assignment, I decided to have a quick something to eat and head out.

I decided what to do as I walked through the the streets, twirling my parasol in a happy-go-lucky kind of way. One of my favorite pastimes has always been to wander alleys and terrify the sad saps who tried to mug me. After all, between my short stature and choice of weapon, I was anything but intimidating.

It didn't take long to find a mugger. After the grim attack, many people had been left homeless and unemployed, leading most residents to a life of theft. In only the second alley I tried, a large man in a black sweater and dirty jeans jumped out from behind a dumpster, wielding a long knife. He was nearly twice my night. "Hello, lovely, he sneered in an overly dramatic way. "What's your name?"

I very rarely find a real purpose in speaking. I quickly grow tired of conversing and tend to tune people out, and as a result I almost never talk. By this point, I hadn't even spoken to anyone but Roman in weeks. So needless to say that this scruffy prick's question was met by silence, resulting in a minute or two of neither party saying anything. A frown formed on the mugger's face as he realized I wasn't going to answer.

"Fine, then. Straight to the point. Give me your purse!" I raised an eyebrow at him and motioned along my body. His eyes widened as he realized I wasn't carrying one. "Oh. Um, then give me ur money, wherever that might be..." To this I just shrugged and pretended to lean on my parasol. In actuality my weight was still entirely on my feet, in case I had to swing my parasol into action. My utter lack of fear and almost bored actions seemed to both unnerve and enrage the man, causing him to forget caution and common sense. "Those are some nice eyes you've got. Maybe I'll cut them out when I'm done with you!" With that he stepped forward and lunged out with the knife. And I activated my semblance. I teleported behind his back and watched him slam the knife full force into the image I had left behind. He stood there, stunned, and the girl he'd just been mugging shattered into a thousand pieces of colored glass. After a few seconds I softly cleared my throat, causing him to jump and swing around. "What the hell was that?!" He yelled at me. He didn't give me time to answer as he lunged again. Not that I would've answered if he had given me the chance, but it's nice to be given the option.

There was a flash of pink and my parasol smashed into his wrist, breaking it and sending the knife flying. I cocked my head cutely and gave my trademark smirk. Then I went into a frenzy, placing professionally aimed hits all over he's body at a speed that made even me proud. After only a few seconds I had broken every bone in his limbs including his skull and jaw, had winded him several times, had ruptured his liver and both kidneys, and landed countless crotch shots. I smiled and twirled my umbrella in glee, until I heard footsteps close by and looked up.

There was a man standing by the entrance to the alley, staring in shock at the mugger on the floor. He was dressed in black boots that looked similar to those worn by Mercury, black pants, a black trench coat, a grey shirt, and a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses. In one hand he held a black umbrella and in the other a plastic bag filled with more sunglasses.

As his gaze shifted from the unconscious man to me, his shocked expression warped into a stupid grin. I shot back a deep frown. 'This guy doesn't seem particularly obnoxious,' I though. 'But I can't leave witnesses, unfortunately.'

"Nice job," he motioned toward my prey. "My name's Orion. What's yours?" As he took a step closer I activated my semblance, teleporting and shattering my former image in the process. I appeared behind him, parasol swinging at the back of his head.

 _ **A/N Hello again, guys! There's Chapter 2; Chapter 3 should be out next Saturday. Pleas review with comments, suggestions, critiques, etc. I'll see you all again next week :)**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Orion

Most people discover their semblance at some point during their life, usually in a time of need or distress. They're considered a manifestation of aura based on one's personality, but I'm living proof that this is not always the case. Unlike most, I was born with both an active aura and a perpetually active semblance. I have no way to deactivate it. But because of this I grew up using it and my aura compensates, meaning that I have an unusually strong aura that's constantly being used and exercised without need of my activation. The doctors had said that most people born with a semblance would discover a second part to it later in life, but by now I was 19 years old and I'd yet to find a second part to my semblance, which is called a sixth sense. That means I can sense the presence and positions of other auras around my own. Because of this, I can observe and locate people in the same general area as me without even opening my eyes. I can also sense grimm this way. Nature's soft, delicate aura is just about everywhere, but where there is grimm there is a distinct lack of aura. They're black holes in a world of light. I can also use my semblance while fighting people. If someone has the ability to teleport or leave shadows, I can tell where they are anyways. I sparred with this girl once in signal academy who filled the entire room with fog in seconds. I just closed my eyes and shot right at her aura. I won.

But this multicolored girl was truly something. There were plenty of people with two-part semblances, but I'd never before seen a teleporter who could leave behind a shadow too. She would've caught me completely off guard if I hadn't felt her aura condense into the glass shadow and suddenly appear behind me. But I'd trained to react to my semblance in this way. Using all my speed I dropped my bag, whipped around, and parried her oncoming attack. This caught her off guard, so I swung Alnitak around and hit the outside of her wrist. This didn't break it, but I disarmed her. She just stared at me in shock, rubbing her wrist. Her pink and brown eyes seemed to pierce through my glasses, looking straight into my soul. 'Oh, right! My glasses!' I'd completely forgot I still had them on.

As she stood there, still rubbing her wrist but seemingly out of her daze, I removed my glasses and showed her my mismatched eyes. This certainly surprised her, and her own eyes widened and actually switched color. Now her left one was brown and her right one was pink, matching her hair. "I've never met anyone else with heterochromia iridium before," I stated calmly, putting the sunglasses in the bag with the others so as to make her more comfortable. "And you can switch them? That's cool." She nodded her head, but still didn't say a word. "What's your name?" She hesitated, pursing he lips. Then she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. She handed it to me. It was a business card, but all that was written on it was "Neopolitan" with the "Neo" portion underlined.

"People call you Neo?" I asked, just to make sure. It was answered with a nod. "You don't talk much, do you?" A head shake. "Can you talk?" A nod. "Why don't you?" She just smirked and stared on. "Alright, then... Do you promise not to attack me if I let you take your parasol back?" Another nod, so I finally lowered my umbrella and let her bend down and pick it up. Even if she did attack me, I knew I could take her. "Were you on your way somewhere? Or just looking for mugger's to mug?" She shrugged and twirled her parasol a bit. Probably just wandering. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Neo. See you around?"

She motioned for the card, so I gave it to her. She just seemed to look at it for a second, and then handed it back, but when I turned my eyes back to it there was a scroll number typed under her name. I would've praised her for the action, but I could sense she'd already teleported away. I could feel her strong, pink aura running down the street to the east. I poked the shadow she left behind with Alnitak and it shattered, as expected.

Neo

I ran full speed back to Roman's house, mind racing as fast as my legs were. This was impossible! Not only had I finally met someone else with heterochromia (I'd been looking for a while), but he'd managed to block my sneak attack and disarm me! Nobody could do that, not even Roman!

The thought of Roman made me sad again. But as I sat back on my bed, I thought life without him might not be so lonely after all. I'd just met him, but that Orion guy seemed pretty nice and he must be a pretty good fighter. Usually I don't just straight up give anyone my scroll number like that, but Orion seemed genuinely kind. Most people are just nice out of pity for the short, mute girl with the weird eyes. Roman was really the only one that seemed to regard me as a strong, independent person capable of great things. But when Orion looked at me, I didn't sense an ounce of pity or disgust from him either.

We'd barely had any interaction, but I could tell how much Orion had been through. I could see it in his eyes, and the way he hid behind his sunglasses before he took notice of my own eyes. No doubt he carried a spare pair or two in his long trench coat. He and I were in the same boat, and the same neighborhood, but somehow never crossed paths before. Now, when the love of my life had just died and I needed a friend more than ever, I'd found him. Or he found me, rather. I finally had an inkling of a chance to be friends with someone outside of my evil line of work. He might even be my ticket out. I fell asleep snuggled under my pink and white comforter, thinking of all the opportunities this could bring.

I didn't notice when my scroll buzzed on my nightstand and Cinder's emblem three up the screen.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Neo

I slept in again. I didn't wake up until noon, and I was starving. The first thing I did was check my scroll, out of habit. My eyes widened as I saw Cinder's message. She was not happy. The text simply said "You're dead." And if Cinder said so, I was sure it was true. I'd only had two jobs: keep Roman alive and keep the Atlesian army against the citizens of vale. I'd failed at both, up against a snotty little baby huntress.

I buried my head into my brown and white striped pillow, groaning quietly. When I finally looked up, I noticed another message. This one was tagged with an emblem I didn't recognize. It was a theta symbol with 3 stars underneath. I could imagine who that was.

"Hello Neo," the text read. "This is Orion, from the alley yesterday. Just wanted to message you so you'd have my scroll number, in case you need anything or want to hang out. I should be free today and tomorrow." I smiled as I read it. 'We've only met once,' I thought, 'and Orion is already extending me more curtesy than most.' He could tell I was lonely, and I knew it. Most people could tell, but nobody ever offered to help solve the loneliness.

I frowned again as I thought about Cinder's message. Luckily Roman had refused to give her his address in case of something like this, so Cinder didn't know where in Vale I could be. But no doubt she'd put a price on my head and tell the White Fang to keep an eye out for me. I could take the White Fang no problem, but if they suddenly decided to be smart and gave Cinder my location rather than trying to take me head-on I could be in deep trouble. I'm no match for Cinder.

I rolled out of bed, realizing that I'd slept in my regular clothes. After I'd eaten, showered, and changed into a fresh set of the same clothes, I grabbed my parasol and headed out. I texted Orion on the way.

Orion

I was on my way to the shooting range when I got Neo's message. Not that I need target practice (I was a good enough shot without it) but I still go twice a week just to keep myself warmed up. I don't let myself get rusty.

I opened my vibrating scroll to see Neo's emblem: a rather creepy face with one pink eye, one brown eye, and a white mouth. Her message popped up when I touched the image: "Hello, Orion. I don't have any plans either and there's a really good ice cream shop on Royal st. called ButterScoop. Would you like to meet up there?" I couldn't help but smile. I'd figured she was lonely, but the fact she'd responded to my text and wanted to hang out less than an hour after I'd sent it just confirmed this. I quickly changed course to Royal st.

Neo

Somehow, Orion managed to arrive at ButterScoop before me. This was especially interesting because I'd teleported almost half of the way here, avoiding a couple blocks between my house and here that was controlled by the White Fang. Now that I was on Cinder's bad side, it would be better to avoid White Fang confrontation whenever possible. Which was easy enough for me. If there's one thing I excel at it's disappearing.

Orion had his back turned to me, trying to see through the front window with his sunglasses. I smiled at the opportunity to attempt another sneak attack. Quiet as I could, I sneaked up behind him, parasol raised over my head. I figured he'd be able to see my reflection in the window, so I left a shadow a little to his left, just in his line of sight. Meanwhile I stayed behind him, out of sight. Once I was about a foot away, I brought my parasol down at his head. Not hard, but just enough to surprise him. However, just as my parasol started its decent, I saw a flash of black and Orion's umbrella connected with my own weapon. He knocked it to the side as he spun around to face me. I gave him a smirk, which he happily returned as he stared down at me through his mirrored aviators.

"Is this how we're always gonna meet, Neo?" He questioned as he held the same smug smirk. I shrugged, nonchalantly tilting my head and strolling past him through the doors. I put a little extra swing in my hips, trying very hard to seem unphased by how easily and consistently Orion could block my attacks. 'It's like he has eyes in the back of his head!' I thought. 'I'll have to check later. You never know.'

The cashier nodded when he noticed me, and then raised an eyebrow as he noticed I had company. This was my favorite place in all of Vale to get ice cream, so I was a regular. But I'd never been here with someone before. Honestly, it was kind of awkward to have invited Orion. It felt almost like he was there spying on a private moment of mine. I sent a nod and a smile back to the cashier to let him know that everything was okay and held up 2 fingers, silently asking him for two of the usual. He nodded back and started scooping ice cream into paper bowls for Orion and me as we took a table.

Orion and I just stared at each other until the ice cream came. It was pretty awkward, but he seemed unphased. I just kept my trademark grin and stared up at him, deciding weather or not I wanted to switch my eye color and see his reaction. But the ice cream came and before I had a chance, Orion was cracking up at the two large bowls of neapolitan ice cream. I lightly kicked him under the table, playfully silencing him. He's shook his head and grinned at me as we started eating.

"Of all kinds of ice cream, who would've guessed?" He asked, still shaking his head. "So, Neo, you're a regular here?" I answered with a nod. "Do you always get the same thing?" Another nod. As Orion kept rattling out yes and no questions, I noticed two faunus enter. One was trying to point at me discretely, and the other was nodding and typing something into a scroll a few minutes later, I saw a group of White Fang members outside. In fact, I was so involved in tracking the White Fang's movements that I barely noticed when Orion fell silent and I didn't see when he picked up his umbrella and laid it across his lap.

"Why so interested in the faunus?" He asked all of a sudden. My eyes widened and I looked at him in surprise. He'd been looking at me the whole time, so how'd he know I was looking at faunus? "Are u running from someone?" I shrugged and looked back behind him as four White Fang grunts entered the shop, heading right for our table. I was sure Cinder wouldn't be here, as she was probably still in Vale with Mercury and Emerald, but the White Fang could still pose a threat, considering how they seemed to always collect in small armies.

"Don't worry," Orion stated. "We can take them." It was then that I noticed he had his umbrella on his lap. I quickly followed suit, grabbing my parasol and putting it on my lap.

It didn't take the four masked uniforms long to reach us. When they did, they all stood on one side of our table, seeing as the other side bordered a wall. I looked to Orion to make the opening statement. He nodded in understanding and smiled up to the four faunus.

"Hello, rats. Come to take our ice cream?" And then the fun began.

 _ **Chapter four done! I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. I'm writing a bit faster than I'm posting, so I'll be posting two chapters today. Stay tuned for chapter five too!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Orion

"Hello, rats. Come to take our ice cream?" My eyes were closed behind my sunglasses as I said this, so I was relying entirely on my semblance to see. I found it much easier to focus during close-quarter team combat if I removed the visual distractions and instead focused on my semblance to know where everyone was. I felt the faunus nearest me yank a gun out of his holster, but before he could aim it at me I rotated my the barrel of my umbrella around my leg and shot him in the stomach. At such a close proximity, the shot immediately depleted his aura and sent him flying across the shop. Before the other three had recovered from the shock of my sudden aggression, Neo cartwheeled out of her chair, kicking the female member in the face and smashing one of the guys in the sweet spot with her parasol. I stood up and hooked the remaining faunus's neck with my umbrella handle, dragging his head down to meet my knee.

As Neo and I stood among the four unconscious faunus, everyone else in the ice cream shop evacuated as fast as they could, realizing the White Fang had the place surrounded. Neo and I calmly walked out the front door, projecting confidence. Always project confidence to your enemies.

Neo and I are both good fighters, but we couldn't take on the small army of faunus that had assembled outside of the shop. We both knew it, and we each knew that the other knew it. So when the White Fang all around raised their guns at us, we both knew we had to use her semblance. "Neo, if you don't mind..." I stated as she stepped in front of me. She opened her parasol and rested it on her shoulder. Then the pink and brown eyed girl gave a curtsy, teleporting us both out of the line of fire just as the shooting started.

We reappeared on top of a nearby building, just in time to watch the shadows she'd left behind shatter from the gunfire. At some point during our short fight I'd dropped my sunglasses, so I grabbed one of my spare pairs out from my coat and turned to Neo. "So the White Fang's after you?" I questioned her as I put on my spare aviators. She nodded in response and looked back at the army of faunus below and then grabbed my hand, catching me off guard as we teleported again.

Now we were standing in front of a small grey house with a red door. Neo was hyperventilating and her aura was fairly weak, so I could tell we were far from the rooftop. "Is this you're house?" I barely got the words out before she pushed past me to unlock the door. She stumbled in with a nod and collapsed on a red couch, chest heaving as she sucked in breath. I entered, closing the door behind myself and taking in the surprising decorations. Just about everything in the living room was super modern and themed red and black. There was hardly a speck of pink, brown, or white in sight. On top of that, there was a foosball table, a pool table with red felt, and several game consoles hooked up to a 70" TV mounted above a fireplace. To be honest it looked more like a guy's bachelor pad than a house belonging to a girl like Neo. There was even a cigar box under the TV.

"Do you live with someone?" I asked, gesturing around the room. Without warning Neo started crying, still voiceless as ever as tears streamed down her face and she bowed her head, finding it even harder to breath. I could feel her weak aura practically collapse, becoming alarmingly dormant as she shrank back into the couch. Needless to say I was caught off guard. I couldn't bring myself to do anything but stand there, staring at her like an idiot. I soon snapped out of it and sat down next to her. I put a hand on her back, and before I could say anything to try and comfort the grieving girl she turned around and hugged me, burying her face into my shoulder. This really surprised me, and I could do nothing but hug her back and let her sob silently into my shoulder.

She stopped crying after a few minutes, but she was still having trouble catching her breath. She smiled at me as she wiped off her tears with her sleeve and tried to calm her breathing down. While Neo tried to collect herself I took another look around the room. This time I noticed there was something engraved on the cigar case on the mantle: "Torchwick". My eyes widened at the name.

'Is it possible that Neo's roommate was the master thief Roman Torchwick, who allegedly died 3 days ago during the grimm attack on Vale? That would certainly explain the crying.' I shifted my gaze back to Neo, who had finally caught her breath. Her face seemed mostly dry too. 'It would also explain why the Whit Fang is after her. Although, it shouldn't matter if she just knew the guy. The White Fang would only care if she had access to information about their plans. And surely Roman Torchwick wouldn't share that knowledge with a mere roommate. Nor would he leave it anywhere she could stumble across it. This could only mean one thing: Neo was an accomplice to Torchwick and after his death she was kicked out of whatever evil group the White Fang is working for. Not that I'm judging her because of her past. After all, I myself used to work for a pro-human syndicate called the Black Hand. I've never been anti-faunus, though. It was just a job. I'm sure it was the same for Neo if she got kicked out, but nobody knows what Torchwick and his allies' ideals were. Just that they'd been behind multiple grimm invasions and almost caused a second World War.'

"So that's why the White Fang's after you. Because Torchwick died." Neo, usually so good at hiding her emotions, stared at me in shock. Then nodded. "You were supposed to protect him, right And since he's dead you failed and were kicked out of whatever group hired the White Fang." She gave another nod and collected herself again, looking just as strong and unphased as ever. Even her aura had been completely replenished.

"You know, it won't be long before the White Fang finds where you live, especially now that they've seen you in town. And since I was seen fighting along side you, they're sure to capture me if they get the chance." Neo bowed her head, making me feel sorry. 'I didn't mean to make her feel bad,' I thought. 'I was just thinking out loud, trying to find a solution. And I just might have one.' "I have a friend who might be able to help us. I haven't seen her in years, but I'm sure she'd be willing to help." This sure got her attention. She looked back up at me and raised an eyebrow, silently asking who I was talking about. "Her name's Blake, and she goes to Beacon academy."

 _ **And scene... That spells the end for the intro chapters. Now our protagonists must make their way to Beacon academy, but do you really think Ozpin would let them in for free? Keep reading to find out ;)**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- Neo

I checked the clock as I shoved the last of my clothes into a suitcase. Orion had left at 4, saying that he'd buy train tickets and try to contact his friend in Vale. It was 6:15 now, and he'd messaged me saying to meet him at the station around 6:20 because the train leaves at 6:40. He got us first class so we could have dinner on the train, but I'd received no word on whether or not he'd been able to reach Blake. I took my suitcase and duffel bad in my hands and teleported about half way to the train station, walking the rest of the way.

Orion was already waiting by the front doors when I arrived, wearing his usual cloths and sunglasses. He looked at his watch as I approached. "5:20 on the dot," he stated. The umbrella wielder pulled out two train tickets from an inside pocket in his trench coat, handing me one as we entered. "I was unable to find Blake's contact information, so we'll just have to surprise her. I know she won't mind, and we can stay in a hotel tonight. We'll head over to the academy in the morning. That sound alright to you?" I nodded coolly, but I was actually worried. Orion seemed to be putting a lot of faith in this girl. What made him so sure she'd help us? Especially if he hadn't "seen her in years"?

We got through the station and onto our train with little problem, though we had a close call when a security guard discovered the blade in my parasol. Orion was able to convince him we were hunters, so we were allowed through anyway. We sat down in out own first class cubical with five minutes to spare, and we were off before long. We sat in silence for a while, staring at each other, until I realized Orion's eyes were closed behind his glasses. 'Guess he's asleep,' I thought and leaned against the wall. I almost fell asleep myself before a woman in a uniform with a notepad opened our door.

"Hello, I'm with the cook car. Would either of you folks like something to eat? I looked at Orion, who seemed to wake up immediately. "Yes. I would like the ribeye steak and a water, please. Neo, um, what would you like?" He gave me a sheepish grin, obviously not sure how I order without speaking. I looked at the waitress, pointed to Orion, and held a thumb up. "Oh -uh- she wants the same." He stammered, raising an eyebrow at me. I nodded to acknowledge he was right, and the waitress scribbled something down on her notepad. "Alrighty, folks. I'll have that for ya in a jiffy." And with that she closed the door and continued on to the next cubical.

The rest of the ride to Vale was uneventful. We both fell asleep until a voice came over the PA system announcing that we were approaching Beacon Station. Once we had exited the station, Orion led me to a nearby hotel where we rented a nice two-person bedroom overlooking most of the city. We didn't pay much attention to the view, though. We both went to bed immediately.

The next morning I found myself walking next to Orion, on our way to Beacon Academy. We both had our bags with us. He'd said that we should head to the school as soon as we were done with breakfast because it was Saturday, so Blake wouldn't have school and he wanted to find her before she left the school to do anything. I'd teleported us part of the way, but I could only do so much with two people and four bags. Not to mention our weapons.

People were already starting to leave for the day when we arrived. Most toward the city. However, there was a group of four girls who were just hanging out and talking. I froze in my tracks when I saw them.

One was dressed in all white and even had white hair. She had ice blue eyes and a rapier attached at her hip that had some kind of revolving mechanism built into the hilt, with cartridges filled with different kinds of dust. Another was dressed in a black and white outfit and a bow. She had yellow eyes and a sword on her back with a ribbon flowing behind her. Next to her stood a rather busty blond in a brown jacket and a yellow shirt that was too small for her. She had lilac eyes and golden bracelets on, which I knew could expand into shot gauntlets. Finally there was a very short girl, who was obviously a bit younger than the others. She wore a red cloak over a black and red corset and combat skirt. She had silver eyes and dark red hair. It was so dark that it was almost black. Attached to her hip was a red hunk of metal, which I knew could unfold to form a giant scythe and sniper rifle.

I'd seen them all before, but the last two I knew all too well. Blondie, who I'd beaten on the train and almost killed, and Little Red, who'd beaten me and killed Roman. Though sh hadn't directly killed him, she was responsible for Torchwick's death. All four of these girls noticed Orion and me at the same time. The girl in black stopped and stared at Orion in shock, Weiss looked at me with confusion and a hint of recognition, and before I knew what was happening Blondie and Red were running at me, weapons at the ready.

I dropped my bags and held up my parasol, ready to block any attacks that came my way. But before the girls could reach me, the one in black took off. She actually hopped on each of their heads like stepping stones in a stream as she launched herself at Orion.

The poor guy didn't stand chance. She was too fast for him to dodge, so the girl barreled into him. They both fell on the ground, carried by her momentum, and rolled backward a bit, laughing an hugging like good friends who hadn't seen each other in years. Which they probably were. 'So this must be the friend Orion talked about,' I thought. 'How ironic she'd be in this team.'

Little Red was watching the two, having apparently forgotten about me, but Blondie's usually lilac eyes were burning a bright red as she stared daggers at me. 'I can do that trick too,' and I grinned at her and switched my eye color, making it mismatch my hair. This surprised the bimbo and gave me the opening I needed. I teleported behind her and brought my parasol crashing down.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Orion

Blake and I had finally stopped rolling, and she'd ended on top of me with her arms around my neck. Before either of us could say anything I heard a loud crack and looked over her shoulder to see that Neo had tried to sneak attack the blond, just to be blocked by one of Blake's friends' weapons. A rapier. I turned back to Blake as the three girls started fighting.

"I'm sorry, Blake. I'm just as happy to see you, but we should break them up before Neo beats them too bad." Blake just laughed some more and climbed off me. "I don't know how she'd do that. Weiss and Yang are both pretty good-" she fell silent when she turned around. Neo had already disarmed Weiss and had the rapier in her hand. She was standing on Yang's arms, making her gauntlets useless. She held the rapier to Yang's throat and her own parasol blade to Wiess, who was complaining that Neo was holding Mrtynaster with improper technique. I couldn't help but chuckle at Blake's expression.

"Come on, Neo. Why've you gotta be like that? They're friends of a friend!" Neo looked at the other two suspiciously, but handed Myrtenaster back and leapt off Yang. Immediately, yang was on her feet and after Neo, but I stepped in before anything could happen. I deflected all her blows to the side with my eyes closed, using my semblance, and tripped her to end it. Yang got back up to attack again, but all three of her friends held her back.

"Argh! What're you doing, Ruby?! That ice cream bitch tried to kill you too!" -I turned and raised an eyebrow at Neo, who shrugged and looked at the ground- "Yes," the hooded girl yelled back, "but we don't stand a chance against either of them, let alone both of them! And besides, Blake seems to know that guy really well and I'm willing to listen to an explanation if they have one!"

"Well I'm not." The blond replied. She seemed to calm down, though she still glared at Neo. Her friends let go and Yang walked away toward the tall building behind us. I watched her go with my semblance and turned back to the others.

"It's really good to see you again, Orion, but what're you doing with her?" Blake questioned, pointing toward Neo "She's with Cinder and the others. She helped in both grimm attacks on this city."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know your team had run into her before. She used to work for the leaders of the grimm invasions, but after Torchwick died she was kicked out. Now the White Fang and worse things are after her. We've come in the hopes you could help us." Blake nodded slowly, but Weiss wasn't so sure. "How do you know we can trust him? She's a criminal! Maybe they're both working for Cinder!" Now Blake was shaking her head.

"We can trust him, I know it. He has a knack for helping people escape from past lives." She looked back to me and smiled. "He's the one who helped me after I left the White Fang. He provided for me for months and treated me like family before I decided to come here to Beacon. I haven't seen him since. As for Neo, I'm willing to give her a chance. After all, I was in her shoes once. Everyone has a past."

I'd always had a weakness for reformed criminals. I've helped countless Faunus escape the White Fang before, but Blake certainly stood out against the rest. The leader of the White Fang, Adam Taurus, had been searching for her himself. He'd tracked us down once, but he had a bad habit of underestimating the abilities of individuals. This was lucky for me, because otherwise I probably wouldn't have beat him. Only by Blake's request had I left him alive.

The feline faunus turned back to me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Let's go talk to Professor Ozpin. I'm sure he'd be willing to enroll you two and give you the school's protection. As for Yang, though, I'm sure she won't be happy." I gave her another hug.

"Thank you, Blake. I knew you'd understand. As for you, Ruby, are you okay with this?" Ruby gave a shrug. "If Blake believes you, I'm sure not gonna disagree. Besides, I totally beat that girl and her boss! No hard feelings here! Welcome to Beacon!" I couldn't help but notice Neo glaring at Ruby. Her grip on her parasol tightened too. "Thank you. Let's go," I said before Neo could do anything rash.

Neo

Professor Ozpin's office was at the top of the large building where Yang had stormed off to. The silver haired man was sitting behind his desk, looking out his window. His legendary cane of unknown power was leaned up against his desk and he held a coffee mug.

The professor spun his chair around to look at us when we entered. His eyes seemed to bore into me as I approached his desk with the others. Blake took the lead, walking right up to the desk. "Good morning, Professer."

"Good morning, Miss Belladonna. Miss Schnee. Ruby. Who are your friends? I've never seen them before, though I believe I've heard of you, Miss-" he looked at me inquisitively. I just looked down at my feet and started twisting my boot into the floor. After a moment of silence Orion spoke up for me. "Her name's Neopolitan. She doesn't talk much. In fact, I've yet to hear her voice myself. My name is Orion."

Ozpin nodded in understanding. "I see. It's a pleasure, but last I heard you were working with Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick. Is that correct? And I see you both have luggage. May I ask why?" I nodded in response, still looking at the floor.

"She was kicked out of the group after Roman Torchwick's death. Now the White Fang and Cinder are after her. I was hoping you'd be willing to lend them the protection of the school, and maybe even enroll them, if it's not too much to ask," Blake informed the headmaster.

He raised an eyebrow at her, looking over his tiny glasses skeptically. "And what proof have you seen to support this?"

"As I'm sure you remember, I used to be a part of the White Fang. Orion is the one who helped me and kept me alive until I came here to Beacon. He's like the father I never knew. If he says it's true, then I personally have no doubt in my mind that Neo doesn't work for those people anymore." Ozpin nodded again, then looked back at Orion and me.

"So, Orion, why are you hiding behind those sunglasses of yours? It's not the most inviting look, I must say." Orion smiled back.

"I'm sorry sir, but I got tired of people staring." And with that he removed his aviators and revealed his mismatched eyes. Even Blake seemed surprised. 'Surely she's seen him without the glasses, right?' Ozpin, on the other hand, kept his cool.

"It's interesting that both of you would have heterochromia iridum," he continued as his gaze turned to me. I could feel him looking into my eyes, taking them in. To show off a bit I switched the eye color to match my hair, prompting a chuckle from the headmaster. "Now that's a neat parlor trick. I think you'll fit in here just fine, after everyone gets over the fact that you almost killed Yang and brought about two grimm invasions." I looked back at the ground

Blake jumped in before anything else could be said. "She will fit in? So you're accepting them into the school?" He replied with a slow, deliberate nod.

"In fact I have the perfect team in mind. Just the other day I was contacted by General Ironwood. He has in custody one Yellowjacket and one Xavior. Apparently they're brother and sister and were caught trying to rob a bank. Ironwood thought they could thrive if given the proper environment, and who better to provide that than me, right?" He let out a light chuckle and then took on a very serious tone, staring daggers right at me. "But don't think I'm doing this for free. As soon as your team is settled, you will be assisting teams RWBY and JNPR in their hunt for Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, and Adam Taurus. I'm sure they'd go on this hunt regardless of whether I allowed them or not, and if I've assigned it then at least they'll have your help. Neopolitan and Orion, meet me in the central commons at 5 o'clock. There I'll introduce you to your new teammates and the rest of the school. Until then, Blake, would you mind showing our new students around the school? They'll be staying in dorm E636."

Blake gave a short nod "I'd be happy to, sir." Ozpin nodded back and took a keychain with four keys on it out of his drawer. He held them out to me and I happily took them, glad to finally move after this nerve-racking discussion. Something about Ozpin set me on edge. 'Nobody's actually this kind, right? There's gotta be a catch,' I thought as Blake lead us all back to the elevator.

Weiss and Ruby had stuff to do downtown, so Orion and I were left alone with Blake. She started showing us around the school, but for the most part she was just catching up with Orion. I soon grew bored of walking in circles and listening to the two of them chat, so I slipped a room key into Orion's coat pocket and slipped away as silently as I could. I teleported before either of them could notice I had gone.

 ** _Hello again everyone! I'm still pretty far ahead in writing the chapters, so I'm going to keep up the two chapters a week._**

 ** _SPOILER ALERT:_**

 ** _Neo's about to find herself face-to-face with Yang, but now they'll be alone! Check back next week to see what happens!_**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8- Neo

Weiss and Ruby had stuff to do downtown, so Orion and I were left alone with Blake. She started showing us around the school, but for the most part she was just catching up with Orion. I soon grew bored of walking in circles and listening to the two of them chat, so I slipped a room key into Orion's coat pocket and sneaked away as silently as I could. I teleported before either of them could notice I had gone.

We'd already found our dorm and left our bags there, so all I had with me was my parasol as I wandered the empty halls of Beacon Academy. I was looking for a certain blond who hated my guts. 'If I have to take down Cinder Fall with team RWBY then Yang and I have to bury the hatchet,' I thought and I strutted down another corridor. I knew how to do this, but I was having second thoughts. 'People like Yang only know how to solve problems one way: with their fists. I'll have to let her beat me. I brought her near death on the train. Now I have to let her bring me near death and trust her not to go too far. It'll be hard not to fight back, but I don't have much of an option.'

I nearly ran into the the brawler as I turned the next corner. Her normally lilac eyes immediately turned red when she saw who I was. "You," she snarled as her gold bracelets extended over her wrists, forming a pair of golden gauntlets.

She brought one of her fists down at my face without a moment's warning. Before I could stop myself, I used the handle of my parasol to deflect her punch into the wall and kneed her in the stomach. She bent over in pain and I rolled over her back, hooking her neck with my parasol handle and using my momentum to throw her over myself. It's a move Roman had taught me. He used to use it with Melodic Cudgel, his cane. I guess I'd used it enough to use it without thinking. 'So much for not fighting back...'

"You bitch!" Yang yelled as she struggled to her feet. She was visibly shaking with anger and her hair seemed to be on fire. I bowed my head and threw my parasol to the side. I could probably beat her without it, but now I was ready. I wouldn't fight back this time.

Yang was obviously surprised by my actions, but she quickly regained her resolve. She walked right up to me, as she had that day on the train, and punched right at my face. I didn't block this time. I felt her fist connect with my jaw, and the only thing that stopped her from breaking it was my aura. She then came in with a left hook and an uppercut that sent me back several feet. 'Damn, she can hit hard. My jaw's killing me!' I struggled to my feet as the blond approached me again. Before I could stand up entirely, she grabbed me by the collar and lifted me to her eye level. I was now a good foot off the ground, staring with glazed over, mismatched eyes into the eyes of the girl I'd almost killed just under a year ago.

"WHY- AREN'T- YOU- FIGHTING- BACK?!" Each word was helped by a powerful punch to my stomach. I felt two of my ribs break, and my aura burned as it tried to fix me. But it would take hours to fix this much damage. My assailant threw me back down but this time I didn't have the energy to get up, so I just stayed down. She walked over and sat on my chest, who hurt my broken ribs even more, causing me to groan involuntarily. I could feel myself slipping into unconsciousness, but I fought it with everything I had. 'Deserve this,' I though weakly. 'I need to be awake for this.' Also, I was interested to see how far Yang would go. Her hair was still glowing and her eyes were a dark red as she stared down at me. She raised her fist over my head, but she looked thoughtful. No doubt she was trying to make sense of why I didn't fight back, but I was slipping fast.

I made a final attempt for forgiveness. I opened my eyes as wide as I could, which was barely a squint, and stared up into Yang's. "I'm sorry..." Was all I could get out before everything went dark.

Orion

Blake and I were running through the halls of Beacon Academy, trying to find Neo. I'd been tracking her aura from the moment she left us, but at some point there was a brilliant flash of gold aura in the same location. Now Neo's was to weak to sense. I knew it had to be Yang, and I knew why Neo had gone looking for her. She wanted to make amends. It was a noble cause, but Yang didn't seem to be getting it. She would probably kill Neo if she got the chance. Even now I could feel the gold aura still radiating from somewhere straight ahead.

As I turned another corner I came face-to-face with Blake's blond teammate. She was walking in the opposite direction with a badly beaten and battered Neo in her arms and tears streaming down her face. I could tell Neo was still breathing, but she was unconscious. Her aura was depleted and I could sense that she had two broken ribs, as well as a broken jaw. The sight tore at my heart and I whipped out my umbrella, aiming the barrel right at Yang's head. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked through gritted teeth. "Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now!" Blake stepped between us before Yang could say anything.

"Orion, please! It's over now! Neo's still alive and Yang obviously feels bad," the faunus girl said. "This is exactly why Neo came! You said it yourself. She felt bad about what she did to Yang and was probably trying to settle the score! Well the score's settled now, so put your weapon down. Neo needs to be in the infirmary!"

Yang looked even more crushed than before. Fresh tears crawled down her cheeks as she stepped around her friend to face me. "Please, Orion. I tried to get back at her for what she did to me on the train that one day, but I took it way too far. She needs a nurse right now or she could die. I've already done way more to her than she did to me on that train. I could never live with myself knowing I'd killed her." I nodded in understanding. I could tell Neo was going to be fine once her aura was back, or else I wouldn't've stopped Yang, but I needed to know Yang felt bad and wouldn't hold that grudge any longer. Neo's plan had worked out. Yang no longer seemed to hate her guts and was even trying to save her life.

I continued ahead as Yang and Blake raced to the infirmary. Neo would be fine, but she'd be livid if she woke up to find that Yang had lost her parasol.


	9. Chapter 9

Neopolitan Stars

Chapter 9- Neo

I woke up in a large, grey room with beds bordering all the walls. I knew it was the infirmary because Blake, Orion, and I had passed it multiple times during the tour. I sat up in my bed and made two quick realizations. Firstly, my aura had regained its strength and fixed my broken bones and bruises. Secondly, I wasn't alone. Yang was sitting on the bed next to me, twiddling her thumbs. She looked up as I started to move. Despite feeling much better, I was having some trouble focusing. Yang seemed to notice my excessive blinking and squinting and handed me a glass of water from my nightstand.

"Here, drink some water. You used so much aura you must be incredibly thirsty." I drained the glass as zoo a as it was in my hand, then I put it back on my nightstand and nodded thanks to her. "That was pretty stupid of you," Yang stated plainly. "I almost did it, you know. I was sitting on your chest and I knew it would only take one more punch. I sat there a full minute before I decided not to." She looked back down at her hands and a tear dripped down her cheek. "I've never killed anyone before, and to tell you the truth I don't know how close you came to killing me on the train. You were gone when I woke up."

Tears were now falling like small rivers down her face. It felt wrong to let her think that maybe I was the same way, and maybe I'd spared her of my own accord, when I knew I was so much worse a person than her. I would've killed her without a second thought if Raven hadn't stopped me. I felt terrible letting Yang believe she was as bad as I was, but the whole point of this ordeal had been to put us on the same level. That way we could work together effectively and maybe even be friends.

With this purpose in mind, I chose not to correct her or tell her how bad of a person I was. I instead got up, ignoring the dizziness which claimed me, sat next to Yang, and put my arms around her. She was much taller than me, so my face was in a rather awkward place as she hugged me back, but I ignored it. 'Right now, my focus is to let Yang know I forgive her.'

After a minute or so Yang pulled away, allowing me to breath again. She caught me up as I caught my breath. "You've only been out for a couple hours. It's 12:40 right now, so there are still five hours until Ozpin gives his speech introducing you and Orion. Speaking of Orion, the nurses thought you'd be asleep a lot longer so he and Blake went out to lunch. Can you believe they still have stuff to talk about? I guess they had lots more to catch up on than I realized. Are you feeling alright? Because you're breathing pretty heavily." I let one of my voiceless laughs, nodded, and smiled at her. Even if I chose to speak, I probably wouldn't tell my new friend that she'd just smothered me in her cleavage.

"Well if you're feeling better, want me to get a nurse over here to clear you so we can get some lunch? I'm starving!" I returned to my bed with a nod, and she ran off to find a nurse. Somehow a fresh set of my clothes was on the nightstand, where my parasol was leaning. 'Orion probably got them for me,' I thought as I picked them up and walked into the bathroom to shower and change.

Once I had showered and changed out of my tattered, bloody clothing, the nurse had no problem letting me go. So I grabbed my parasol and followed Yang toward the giant school garage. She didn't stop talking the whole way.

Orion

I had finally run out of things to talk to Blake about when I heard the sound of a motorcycle outside. I was going to ignore it, but Blake's eyes widened as she looked behind me, so I turned toward the source of the noise. My eyes widened as well and my jaw hung open. The driver of the motorcycle was none other than Yang, but even more surprising was the short girl with multicolored hair riding behind her.

Not only was I shocked that the two of them seemed to be getting along, but also Neo looked great. She had showered and changed into the clothes I'd grabbed for her, her cuts and bruises were gone, and her aura was entirely recovered. What's more, she seemed to actually be smiling. And I don't mean her usual grin of confidence. As she climbed off Yangs bike and removed her spare helmet, she shook her hair out and beamed at her old nemesis. She was very obviously thrilled.

After initial greetings and numerous mentions of how much better Neo was looking, the two girls sat down in Blake's and my booths. Yang started looking at the menu, but Neo just pointed to my plate and raised an eyebrow.

"Steak sandwich," I stated. She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I can get pretty obsessive over steak," I laughed out. I'd had a steak dinner with Neo the previous night, on the train car, and steak and eggs for breakfast with her that morning. She shrugged and pointed back at my plate just as the waiter got back. I nodded in understanding and looked at Yang to order first. Then I ordered for Neo. This was becoming the usual course of action for us. She'd point either to me or a menu and I'd order for her. It was a little strange, but I was more than happy to accommodate her. Yang, Blake, and I talked through the rest of lunch while Neo sat quietly and observed.

Meanwhile, I was tracing the auras of countless faunus gathering outside the door.

 _ **There are the next two chapters; I hope everybody's enjoying so far!**_

 ** _SPOILER ALERT: Some of you may remember the possibility of Orion discovering a second part to his semblance, as was mentioned in chapter 3. I've been considering implementing that, but I don't have much of a plan of what to use. If anybody has and idea for a semblance that they think would fit Orion and would like to see integrated into the story, feel free to post it below or PM me! I'll see what I can do_**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- Orion

At first, I thought the White Fang had spotted us and were preparing to attack again, but as I turned toward the doors I realized only about a quarter of the faunus were wearing White Fang uniforms. This was a recruitment rally, and anyone who knows anything about the White Fang knows what happens during a recruitment rally. They choose an anti-faunus establishment to burn in order to boost morale and build bloodlust. The people inside the restaurant grew uneasy as the mob passed the Windows. Luckily, it didn't stop there. The board of angry faunus kept walking, paying the restaurant no mind.

Neo let out an audible sigh when they were out of sight. She must've been thinking the same thing as me. She settled down closer to me so our shoulders were almost touching. Blake smiled at me and shook her head, prompting an eye roll out of me.

We were all done eating and thoroughly out of things to talk about by three, so we decided to head back to Beacon. Ruby and Weiss had finished shopping, so we were going to meet back up with them there. Also, Neo had fallen asleep at some point during the conversation and now had her head resting on my shoulder. I felt bad waking her up, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact she practically jumped out of her seat when I mentioned Yang's motorcycle.

Neo

'I love this motorcycle so much,' I thought as Yang and I raced back to Beacon. Blake had a pretty nice truck which Orion was riding in, but Yang's motorcycle was one of the most thrilling modes of transportation, right next to the bullheads I'd learned to fly under Roman. It only took us five minutes to get back to Beacon Academy. I hugged Yang around the waist and giggled like crazy the whole way. There was no way Yang could hear me over the sounds of the wind and the motor, but it was still the most noise I'd made since Roman died. I automatically calmed down when we arrived, taking on the professional persona I'd perfected working under Cinder.

"Ha! Those two are gonna be shocked when they see us getting along!" Yang pulled me into another awkward bear hug, then started toward team RWBY's dorm room with her arm around my neck. I happily kept pace. 'This is gonna be fun.'

The door opened immediately after we arrived at their dorm room. Ruby was behind it, beaming at Yang. "Hi, Yang! I knew I heard your footsteps! Didn't I tell you, Weiss? I said 'My sister has the loudest footsteps in all of-' whoa!" Now she noticed me under Yang's arm. "Yang, please stop this! I understand you're angry with her, but please don't strangle her! You'll be expelled!" Yang started cracking up and I let on a small smile, but Ruby and Weiss were just confused.

"It's fine, Ruby! Neo I made up. We're friends now." Ruby still didn't quite get it.

"Then why are you trying to strangle her?"

"It's called a hug, Ruby. I'm hugging her." And with that, the blond yanked me into our third awkward hug of the day. I could hear Ruby and Weiss through the massive cleavage, giggling at the position of my head. 'Does she realize where she's putting my head? I really hope this doesn't become our "thing",' I pondered as she pulled away and I gave her a sheepish smile. We entered the RWBY dorm room, which was a mess. Clothes and papers littered the floor and there were two roughly-made bunk beds in the far corners. One of the top bunks was suspended from the ceiling and had a sheet draped over it to make a suspended fort-looking area. Ruby jumped onto this one and laid down. Weiss took the bunk under it and Yang hopped up on the other top bunk, which appeared to be held on top of the bottom one by tape. Strangely enough, Ruby's bed looked like the safest place to sleep. I sat on what I assumed to be Blake's bed and Yang explained what happened between the two of us.

Orion and Blake arrived shortly after, but with only two hours left before Ozpin's introductory speech, Orion and I headed back to our dorm room to unpack.

Ozpin was planning to give his speech in the mess hall, right before dinner was served. When Orion and I arrived he was standing next to the stage with a blond woman in black, white and purple and two people, a boy and a girl, who seemed to be students. They looked remarkably alike. Both had short blond hair and dark green eyes. The girl was wearing a black and yellow striped suit of armor, but no helmet. A shield was built into her left arm and a short lance hung from her back. The guy was wearing a black and red cloak over a red tunic. He had belt looped through the outside of his cloak with a wakizashi at each hip.

"You arrived right on time," Ozpin stated. "I will be making the announcement shortly, but first I would like you to meet your teammates. Yellowjacket, Xavier, these are the people I was telling you about: Orion and Neopolitan. Now, let's get up on stage." We didn't even have time to shake hands before we were directed up the stairs to the stage. The hall immediately fell silent as Ozpin walked up to the microphone and I stood off to the side with my new team.

"Good evening, everyone," the headmaster started. "As you know, it's rare for me to give unscheduled announcements, but today we have the honor of greeting four new students to our school." There was some murmuring among the audience, and a number of people gave me death stares. 'I guess Yang and Ruby told people about me after our fights. I'm famous. Or infamous, rather.' I returned each look with a confident grin. 'Never show weakness to your enemies" was one of the many lessons I'd learned working with Roman. A very important one.

"These are not your enemies anymore," Orion whispered in my ear. "They're your allies and classmates. It couldn't hurt to look a little apologetic, or at least less defiant." I swear he can read my mind sometimes. 'Maybe he can,' I thought. 'I've never seen anybody fight like him, as if they knew what their opponent was going to do before the opponent does. He never told me his semblance, after all.'

"Now," Ozpin continued. "It is my utter pleasure to present Beacon's newest team: team ONYX!" Orion and I looked at each other. I couldn't see his eyes through his glasses, but I could tell he was pleased by the small smile that was starting to creep along his face. He was happy to be the leader of our team. And nobody would've been more qualified.

"This team," Ozpin continued, "consists of Orion (he gave a casual salute), Neopolitan ( I gave a small nod), Yellowjacket (her fist pumped in the air), and Xavier (he waved)." Suddenly, Ozpin's expression grew stern as he stared down a couple students in particular. "Now I'm aware that a number of you know about the role Neopolitan played in the two grimm invasions, but the fact of the matter is that she's reformed and is now a fellow student of yours. If Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-long could forgive and forget, then I expect the rest of you could as well. If I catch anybody picking a fight with her outside of the regular sparing areas, that student will face probable expulsion." Most of the faces who had been glaring at me a moment ago were now turned toward the ground.

Ozpin dismissed the students for dinner and walked back off the stage with the newly named team ONYX. "Sorry we had to go up so fast," he continued. I had a hall full of hungry teenagers waiting for us. Seeing as you are now a team, it would be wise of you to start getting to know each other as quickly as possible. Every other team here has a 4-month head start, and don't think that just because you're all here for protection from the police or a major crime syndicate means you're off the hook with grades. I expect you all to continue honing your skills and knowledge while you're here so you have a better chance of taking down Cinder and the others. Do I make myself clear?" We all nodded. "Good. Oh, and Orion- Yellowjacket and Xavier have already been briefed on the role your team will play in the capture or defeat of Cinder Fall and the White Fang. They have also been given a tour and know where team ONYX's dorm is, but they do not yet have keys. Now have a nice night, you four. As of now, you are young hunters and huntresses studying at my school, with no official record of your past lives. My school will look after you as it does everyone else."

With that, Ozpin turned around and headed back to his office with the blond huntress I'd noticed earlier. I took the two extra keys out of my jacket pocket and handed them to Yellowjacket and Xavier as Orion lead us to a table with team RWBY and four other people I hadn't seen before.

 _ **Welcome back, everyone! Starting today, I'll be back to posting one or two chapters every week!**_

 _ **On top of that, I've received a comment and a couple private messages asking for specifics on the abilities and backgrounds of certain characters. To answer these questions, I will be posting a new story entitled Neopolitan Stars Character Descriptions. Each chapter will provide in-depth descriptions of a certain character and his/her background. Subscribe to this other story if you want to get to know Neo and the OCs better!**_


	11. Chapter 11

Neopolitan Stars

Chapter 11- Neo

The four people seated with team RWBY happened to be team JNPR, the other team we were supposed to work with in taking down Cinder and the White Fang. Their leader was an interesting blond guy in light armor, with a telescopic shield and unremarkable sword, named Jaune Arc. There was also Pyrrha Nikos, a famous young huntress who I'd heard of many times. From the stories, I knew she possessed dust-reinforced bronze shield and a spear that could turn into a sword and a rifle. The other two were a talkative, pink haired girl named Nora Valkyrie and a quiet man everyone called Ren. I had no clue what weapons either of them used.

Conversation flowed easily through the group after the initial instructions. There was one awkward moment with Nora, but luckily Orion saved me. Again.

"So Neo," Nora had questioned me with an interrogative look. "How do you like it at Beacon? Or better yet, have you even paid attention to it or are you trying to stay unattached to the school because you're secretly working for Cinder and will eventually call her in to bust the place up after you've learned all of our weaknesses and can defeat us and get to the invaluable treasures that thisschoolobviouslydoesn'tpossesbecauseit'saschoolandnotabank?!" By now, our noses were touching and I was leaning as far back on the bench as I could. She'd spoken too fast for me to understand most of what she'd said, but it's not like I would've answered anyway. I held her gaze and smiled, tilting my head slightly. We stayed like that for a while before Orion jumped in.

"You'll have to excuse her, Nora. Neo doesn't talk much. Ever, in fact," he informed her. "Nevertheless, I assure you she's no longer working for Cinder and I'm sure she's very impressed with your school." The still sunglassed man concluded and took in a mouthful of his steak, specially ordered from the kitchen for him.

"Das nod troo," Yang managed to say around a mouthful of mashed potato. I grimaced at the lack of manners. Table manner infringement was one of my biggest pet peeves. The brawler swallowed and draped an arm around me, pulling me into a hug from the side. "She apologized to me verbally at the end of our fight today."

Everyone around the table except for Nora looked shocked. Even Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren were surprised. Unlike their talkative comrade, they'd picked up on my silent, near muteness immediately. Orion was the most dumbstruck of them all. His jaw hung open and a piece of stake fell out. I couldn't help myself as a small giggle escaped me, the first hint of a voice anybody here except Yang had experienced.

"What's her voice like?" Ruby whispered, as if I couldn't hear her just as well as Yang.

"Hmm... Well it was a bit of a pained whisper at the time, but from what I could tell it was very pleasant and smooth." The blond turned back and beamed at me. "How about it, Neo? Why don't you say something right now!" I opened my mouth to say something, but immediately shut it again and shook my head, looking down at my lap. "Alright, don't want to make ya do anything you're uncomfortable with. Maybe some other day." The rest of the night people asked me yes or no questions I could nod or shake my head to, but mostly just conversed with each other. That's how I prefer it anyways.

At some point, we got on the topic of Cinder. We each gave brief explanations of our weapons and semblances so we could work together more effectively. Ruby had a scythe that could turn into a sniper rifle, named Crescent Rose, and her semblance was speed. Weiss used a rapier with a dust revolver called Myrtenaster and had the semblance of glyph creation, the type of glyph depended on the type of dust she had cued up in her sword. Blake's weapon was called Gambol Shroud. It could switch between a sword and "chain pistol" while the sheath is used as a bludgeoning weapon in her off-hand. Her semblance was a shadow, like half of mine, but hers could change what it was made of depending on the dust in her weapon, similar to Weiss. Yang had her Ranged Shot Gauntlets, called the Ember Celicas. Her semblance was a very interesting one. People tend to call it "going super sayan" and it absorbed any attack she was hit with and made her hit that much harder. Unfortunately, it didn't make her any more resistant to attacks, so she still felt every punch she took as if her semblance wasn't active.

Moving on to team JNPR, Jaune had that unremarkable sword and telescoping shield that I'd seen before. The shield doubled as a sheath, too. He had yet to discover his semblance. (Laaamme) Nora wielded a war hammer, which could change into a grenade launcher. Her semblance was the ability to channel electricity into her muscles, overstimulating them and effectively tripling her strength. As for Pyrrha, I already knew about her spear and shield, but I didn't know that her semblance was magnetism. Finally, Ren had dual SMGs with blades on them. He kept them up his sleeves, but he didn't mention a semblance and nobody asked.

Team ONYX was the last to share. Orion explained that he had made an umbrella that doubled as a high-powered rifle and had a blade built into the handle. I was especially interested as he spoke, because I'd only seen him use it as a gun and a bludgeoning weapon. I had no idea it had a hidden blade, and I didn't know what his semblance was. "As far as my semblance goes," he explained as he looked directly at me. "It's called a sixth sense. I can sense the auras of everyone around me. I can also tell the difference between people and shadows. That's how I always knew where you were during your sneak attacks, Neo." I smiled in understanding, glad to know he really couldn't read my mind.

Now it was my turn. I took out my parasol from under the table, ready to show it off. To start, I screwed off the handle and showed everyone the sharp stiletto blade attached before I screwed it back on. Next, I pressed a button on the pole and the same blade sprang out of the end. Then I retracted the second blade and placed the parasol back on my lap. Orion informed everyone that I had a dual semblance, allowing me to both teleport and leave behind shadows of varying strength.

Yellowjacket was up next. She wielded a telescoping lance with rocket boosters on the back that could shoot off the tip like a missile launcher and had a shield similar to Jaune's built into the armor on her left arm. Her semblance was speed, but it wasn't like Ruby's speed. Yellowjacket's also doubled her forward momentum. This gave much more power to her lance, but it also meant her semblance was only useful in a straight line path. She couldn't turn effectively while using it.

Finally, it came down to Xavier. He had those two swords I'd noticed before, called wakizashis. There was a firing chamber and barrel built into each of the red hilts, making them pistols as well. His semblance was the ability to create fire glyphs. "Because my glyphs are only of one type of dust," he explained, "they're much more powerful than the ones most glyph semblances can make."

Now that everyone knew how everyone else worked, we made a plan for after the next day's classes. Yang decided she'd consult with her underground source, Junior, to try and find a lead on what the White Fang could be doing. "How about it, Neo? You wanna come with?" She looked at me expectantly and was answered with a vigorous nod. I couldn't wait to get back on that motorcycle with her, and I was sure Junior'd have something. He had been Roman's go-to guy for weapons and ammo, after all. Meanwhile Blake and Weiss would go to the Cross Continental Transit System to look for any extra information on the White Fang they could find and everybody else would search the city for any hideouts the White Fang had and try to scavenge whatever plans they could. Orion would use his semblance to find a White Fang hideout in the city, then raid it for any info or plans they had with Xavier, Ruby, and Yellowjacket. Finally, team JNPR would try to crash a recruitment rally, to save a shop and stop at least a few faunus from joining the White Fang. (Turns out Jaune's ideas are just as lame as Jaune is)

 _ **Hey, guys. Sorry if you found this chapter a bit boring, but now you know the abilities of the new OCs! Since this was such an informational chapter with nearly no actual plot development, I decided to just tack it on to the last chapter and post it all at once. I also felt like celebrating our return with a double post- sue me! I hope you're all pleased with the new OCs' abilities!**_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Orion

I woke up to the sound of the shower turning on. Looking around, I noticed that both Yellowjacket and Xavier were still asleep but Neo was missing, assumably in the shower now. I decided to get up and get ready too, so the two showers would be open by the time the other half of our team woke up. I grabbed a fresh set of clothes from my newly stocked dresser and headed to the unoccupied shower across from Neo's.

I reentered the dorm room after I was dried and dressed to find that Neo had already left (probably for breakfast) and that the other two had risen and were getting ready to shower themselves.

"Good morning you two," I greeted them as I put on my boots, coat, and sunglasses. "I'm going to the mess hall to find Neo and eat. Feel free to join us." The sister in black and yellow striped pajamas groaned a groggy hello, but her brother in red nodded and said they would. I snatched up Alnitak and headed out.

After putting together a breakfast burrito loaded with steak, I found Neo eating with team JNPR and half of team RWBY. Ruby and Yang were nowhere to be seen, so I took a seat between Neo and Blake. Neo was eating what appeared to be fruit loops mixed with coco-puffs with vanilla-flavored coffee creamer instead of milk. Blake had a plate of salmon and eggs, though she'd barely touched the eggs. I was a bit surprised when I had to squeeze and slide between the two girls' hips. 'Huh,' I thought. 'I thought there was more room here.'

Neo

Classes were hell. As it turns out, the teachers disliked me just as much as the students. Ozpin had synchronized all the classes for teams RWBY, JNPR, and ONYX so we would all have the same schedule and could work better together. However, each of the teachers somehow managed to give me double the work as everybody else. Professor Port even gave me detention for refusing to answer a question. Luckily, Orion had come across Ozpin in the hall and explained the situation. The headmaster had agreed to void my detention and talk with the professor about the fair treatment of students and equal inclusion of various psychological conditions on the students' behalves.

Now it was time for my favorite part of the day. I may not be a history buff or science major (though I could pick up on them both pretty quickly), but I sure could fight. I'd been looking forward to Professor Goodwitch's sparing class all day. When everyone was seated and quiet, the blond professor stepped into the sparing ring.

"Good evening, everyone," she started, fixing her glasses and peering down at a clipboard. "As I'm sure most of you have noticed, we have the new team ONYX joining this class. I expect you all to treat these new students with the utmost respect and fight them the same way you would anybody else in this class- ruthlessly and without mercy. At this, everyone cheered and even I had to smile. 'Now this is a class I wouldn't mind spending some extra time in,' I thought as Goodwitch continued.

"I'll explain the rules for the benefit of our new classmates. The first match of each day will be between two randomly selected students. The two will fight until one forfeits, is knocked out of the ring, or has his or her aura completely depleted. The winner of each match will choose their next opponent. The winner of the final match may choose one student to aid them in a match against one of the professors. Today, the victor may choose to spar against either myself, Professor Oobleck, or Professor Port. Now let's see the first matchup.

She used the clipboard to pull up the faces of two people on a couple of big screens behind her. Up popped a picture of Yang and a brown haired girl with gold wire-rimmed aviators and a dark brown beret. Underneath her picture was the name "Coco" she walked into the ring with a brown purse and faced my blond friend. The screens opposite us started counting down from three.

The moment they hit 0, Yang was propelled forward by a blast of her own shot gauntlets and Coco's purse transformed into a minigun. The short haired brunette couldn't even fire a single shot before Yang's fist smashed into her face, shattering her sunglasses and knocking her down. The gun quickly turned back into a purse and Coco swung around, swinging the purse at her attacker. Yang easily dodged backward and shot Coco in the stomach, causing her to stagger out of the ring. A buzzer sounded, marking the end of the match. There was a second of silence before the room erupted into cheers. Everyone seemed shocked that it'd been finished so quickly. Professor Goodwitch walked back up to the ring, nodding her approval to Yang.

"Who would you like to fight next?" She asked after everyone had quieted down. Yang smiled as she looked at me and beaconed me down.

"Come on, Neo!" she yelled. "Let's have a rematch, and don't you dare go easy on me this time!" I nodded and teleported in front of her. My mistake. Because of my small stature it took the blond a second to see where I'd gone, but once she did find me she laughed heartily and pulled me into the fourth of our awkward bear hugs. Everyone in the room burst into laughter as my face was plunged into her breasts and I was lifted off my feet, legs waving. Even Professor Goodwitch let out a light chuckle.

After I felt Yang'd had her fun (I still suspect that she made our hugs as awkward as possible on purpose) I teleported back to the other side of the ring and started twirling my parasol nonchalantly. It was little things like that, small actions and projections of confidence, that could make an opponent nervous and could make or break a duel. 'Yang may not be my enemy anymore,' I thought as Goodwitch walked away and the laughter died out. 'But as of right now she's my opponent. And I will treat her as such.' The screens began their countdown again, and my opponent settled into a preparatory stance: she crouched down, put her head forward, and held her arms back. I kept my posture as straight as ever and continued twirling my parasol in a simple circle.

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Yang was flying forward in the same way she had with Coco. I was ready for this. Effortlessly, I stepped out of the way and brought my knee into her side. She fell with a grunt, but recovered quickly. Not quickly enough, though. By the time she was back on her feet I'd teleported behind her and left a shadow smiling up at her. As she drew her fist back to punch the shadow I hooked her leg with the parasol handle and pulled it back and redirected her arm, causing her to fall on her face.

"AAAARGH!" She yelled as she spun back on her feet, eyes glowing red, but she was now surrounded by 15 of my shadows. It was costing massive amounts of my aura to create so many and animate them all with twirling umbrellas to make them each seem as lifelike as possible, but I had plenty of aura to spare. Yang punched through each of them, one at a time, until she was seemingly alone in the ring. Only the professors and Orion seemed to notice that I'd been controlling the shadows from the rafters, where I'd teleported while Yang was recovering. I rolled off of my perch and fell right toward Yang.

"Where'd she-" Yang was cut off as I dropped behind her and smashed my parasol into the back of her head, knocking her out of the ring in one swift blow. The students all started cheering for me once they realized where I'd come from. Yang stood back up and used her remaining aura to fix her broken skull, leaving her out of breath and with little aura remaining, but physically unscathed. The exhausted blond gave me a high five on her way back to her chair, but was too out of breath to say anything.

Goodwitch joined me in the ring and asked who I'd like to face next. After a quick glance around, I pointed at Xavier. After all, what better way is there to learn the abilities of your teammates then to fight them yourself? Goodwitch nodded and walked back to her seat as Xavier climbed down the stairs to the ring. Neither of us said a word as he took a stance on the other side from me. The screens once again started counting down.

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 ** _Sorry it's a little late in the week. I'll try to stick to posting on wednesdays from here on out._**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13- Neo

0\. Nothing happened. I stood in my usual, nonchalant way and Xavier remained in his own strange stance. He was stooped down low with a sword in each hand. On his left side, he held the sword backward so the blade ran parallel to his forearm. His right hand held his sword the typical way, but was balled into a fist on the ground. Nervous whispers echoed around the room as people watched the two of us staring at each other. At first glance it seemed like nothing was happening, but as I watched my teammate's usually green eyes, one turned blue and they both started glowing. They got brighter and brighter until flames started flowing out of them, leaving trails of blue and green flame as he stood up a bit.

I shifted my own eye color, which I tend to do when I'm in an uncomfortable situation, but then I remembered what Ozpin had said about Xavier and his sister. If they'd been caught by the police while robbing a bank, then I should be able to easily beat either of them. Having found new confidence, I stabilized my eye colors and started strategizing. Two glyphs (one green and one blue) encircled his blades. The sword on his left burst into blue flame and the right one burned green. He charged me, leaving trails of colorful fire in his wake.

Just as he got close I teleported away and left a shadow. I could already tell this guy would be a much tougher opponent than Yang. If I was going to beat him, I'd first have to study his preferred mode of attack. I watched from behind as he started spinning at the last minute, creating a spiraling tornado of blue and green flames as he barreled past the projection of me.

At first, it looked like he'd completely missed. The shadow hadn't shattered and he'd travelled just to the right of it. But just as this thought occurred to me, my projection fell apart. It still didn't shatter, but the head, both arms, and several chunks of the torso slid off with the sound of scraping glass. Xavier's wakizashis were so sharp and hot with the flames that they'd cut right through my shadow without shattering it. The dismembered parts of the shadow exploded into countless little pieces as they hit the ground. I'd have to be really careful, as those swords would no doubt completely deplete my aura with just a few strikes.

Realization flooded into my teammate's eyes as saw the pieces shatter. He charged again, but this time he held up a hand as he came close and four red glyphs appeared around me. I teleported outside of the small box of glyphs and watched as they blew up around nothing, engulfing half the ring with fire and propelling Xavier in a new direction. This allowed him to change course and charge me again incredibly fast. I knew would just be wasting aura if I were to teleport. I'd already learned all I could about his fighting style from that trick and he'd probably expect me to do it again anyway. Then I had an idea. I leaned forward on my parasol and smiled at my attacker, standing as still as I could to look like one of my shadows.

Just as I'd expected, Xavier thought I'd teleported again and spun around, sliding to a stop in front of me, with his left hand just within reach. My parasol swung into action, swiftly disarming his left hand and knocking him over on his side. As he tried to recover and slash at me with his awkwardly positioned right hand, I had plenty of time to kick his no longer flaming sword away and disarm his right hand. His eyes returned to their normal green, no longer blue or glowing.

My opponent rolled backwards onto his feet and reached out a hand to create a glyph between us, but I pulled a move on him similar to the one I'd used on Yang in the hallway. I deflected his hand down so the glyph would form on the floor, kneed him in the stomach, rolled over his back, and caught his neck with my parasol. This time, instead of throwing him forward by his neck, I held him in the same place until the glyph blew up, I teleported out of the way before the fire could deal too much damage to me, but I could still feel the heat of Xavier's flames and they launched their creator toward the ceiling. He fell with a thud outside of the ring and the buzzer sounded again, marking my victory.

Most people would've had hard feelings toward me for disarming them twice, fooling them three times, and blowing them up with their own power, but Xavier was a good sport. He just collected his swords, shook my hand and thanked me for the match, and returned to his seat smelling of smoke and burned gasoline.

"Alright, Neo wins once more," Professor Goodwitch commented as she stepped back into the ring. She waved a little black stick that looked like a riding crop and all the blown up and charred pieces of the ring returned to normal. "That was the last of the student battles for today. Neo, if you'd like, you may choose another student to assist you in a match against a professor." There wasn't a hesitation. Before I knew what I was doing, I was pointing straight at Orion. He stood up from his chair, bowed sarcastically to prompt laughter from the audience, and made his way down to my side.

"Alright, now who would you like to fight?" Again, there was no hesitation. I was pointing at a grumpy-looking Professor Port. He didn't look too happy to see how easily I'd beaten the other two. The professor looked to Orion as he stood up and brought his blunderbuss with him into the ring.

"Orion, Ozpin told me all about what you did for Blake, and for that I hold the utmost respect for you. That being said, if you really think that you and this puny criminal stand any chance against me, then you're more naive then I could imagine." He turned his head and glared at me as he finished. Orion calmly took off his sunglasses and put them in a case in his trench coat.

"I've been helping people escape the wrong side of history for a long time," Orion replied. "I've helped hundreds, and if there are two lessons I've learned in all that time, they're that you should never judge a person on their past life, because you don't know and you don't need to know why they they did the things they did, and that it's the people who talk themselves up the most who are the most fun to destroy." He concluded with a cold, crooked smile that could've frozen fire. The look was amplified so much by the presence of his silver eye that the professor actually took a few steps back.

Goodwitch cleared her throat and started the countdown on the screens above.


End file.
